How To Become A Budget And Policy Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a budget and policy analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Nicole Kreisberg

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a budget and policy analyst. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.89 an hour? That's $68,408 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 1,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a budget and policy analyst?

Nicole Kreisberg

Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University

At Penn State, we pride ourselves on training graduate students to enter a range of industries where they can impact policy. I would advise students to be open-minded about where they can best make that impact, whether that be in research, organizing, management, or policy advocacy.

ScoreBudget And Policy AnalystUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $68,408

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.5

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.91%

Asian 6.22%

Black or African American 12.73%

Hispanic or Latino 15.52%

Unknown 4.23%

White 60.40%

Gender

female 48.84%

male 51.16%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

6.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a budget and policy analyst

Explore budget and policy analyst education requirements

Most common budget and policy analyst degrees

Bachelor's

55.1 %

Master's

40.9 %

Associate

2.4 %

Start to develop specific budget and policy analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Analysis	10.69%
Policy Issues	10.02%
Budget Analysis	9.00%
Budget Preparation	7.74%
Budget Request	7.32%

Complete relevant budget and policy analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New budget and policy analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a budget and policy analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real budget and policy analyst resumes.

Research budget and policy analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage credit card revenue reporting and reconciliations for multiple credit card merchant accounts which include recommending and implementing process improvements.
Play key role in assisting senior management with data transfer to new ERP system during statewide transition project.
Maintain oversight and auditing of all certify organizations and individuals statewide, ensuring regulatory compliance and issue sanctions for violations.
Research and prepare reports for CMS, MFP and any other reports as needed as well as other duties as assigned.

Prepare your budget and policy analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your budget and policy analyst resume.

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